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• Jason Rainbow
Portuguese space traffic management startup Neuraspace has secured approximately $18 million in fresh funding to expand European space domain awareness and defense capabilities. The investment will support the company’s growth as demand increases for sovereign tools to monitor and manage activity in orbit.
Commercial Space
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Portuguese space traffic management startup Neuraspace has secured approximately $18 million in fresh funding to expand European space domain awareness and defense capabilities. The investment will support the company’s growth as demand increases for sovereign tools to monitor and manage activity in orbit.
Voyager Technologies remains optimistic about Starlab’s prospects but is seeking changes to NASA’s commercial space station request for proposals. The company wants certain requirements relaxed, highlighting the tension between NASA’s program objectives and industry’s ability to deliver commercially viable orbital infrastructure.
SpaceX is scheduled to launch three of AST SpaceMobile’s large BlueBird satellites early Wednesday, Aug. 5. The mission will expand AST SpaceMobile’s planned direct-to-cell satellite constellation, with the launch available for live viewing.
Startup Endeavor Optical Networks has emerged from stealth with plans to build an optical satellite network in medium Earth orbit for space-based data transfer. The company’s announcement adds a new entrant to the developing market for high-capacity intersatellite and space-based communications infrastructure.
NOAA will continue evaluating data from Spire Global’s Hyperspectral Microwave Sounder under a $3 million contract extension announced Aug. 4. The agreement extends the agency’s assessment of Spire’s commercial data for potential use in NOAA’s meteorological and environmental observation activities.
High activity
SpaceX is recovering Ship 40 from the Indian Ocean after its soft landing on Flight 13, while Ship 41 moves toward engine testing at Massey’s. Teams are also advancing Pad 2 work, with a potential Flight 14 targeted as early as late August.
SpaceX says its Crew Dragon fleet has a “significant” amount of life remaining, but the company has not committed to how long the spacecraft will stay in service. The uncertainty puts the future of a central platform in commercial human spaceflight under renewed scrutiny.
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